The injuries we have sustained this year could be a wonderful blessing as it now feels like we have nearly two full capable sides to put out which will be invaluable in Europe.

Without the injuries, we would never had seen the development of many players this year and now we are in a position where we have had a fantastic season without our two most creative players!

Next season - who knows what could happen.

Although not for the injured I imagine!!!!!!!!!

Be great to see Marney getting a run out before the season's end i.e. when 7th position is secured. Maybe some other squad players too!

A blessing?

No.

We're only a handful of points away from 6th place and a few more off 5th. And we've been a single goal away from plenty of extra points.

Who knows if having Brady or Defour might have sneaked us those extra points?

We can say that at least the replacements have proved them capable.

I'd say there's a silver lining to the injuries but not quite a "blessing".

There has definitely been improvement throughout the squad but after our struggles over Xmas and the New Year you are pushing it to say we have two full sides.
Even a couple of injuries seriously disrupted our flow and Ben Mee was missed in our last two matches.

Maybe it's a silver lining disguised as a blessing (or the other way round possibly)..

Claret82 wrote:The injuries we have sustained this year could be a wonderful blessing as it now feels like we have nearly two full capable sides to put out which will be invaluable in Europe.

Unless there are some injuries.

Not exactly a blessing, but as we stand (can't do owt about the past) we have two world class players coming back next term, in Defour and Brady, which surely will give the whole squad/club a huge boost. Plus more signings, no doubt.

So I get what the OP means, in a way.

There's going to be injuries every year, it's probably about par for the course this year. I think Palace were hit harder than anyone.

Defour is a big miss, but I can't imagine him playing 38 games in any season - one of the reasons he joined us rather than a 'Big 6' side the first place.

Wouldn’t say it was par for the course. It’s a lot of players to have long term injuries.

Heaton
Ward
Mee
Brady
Defour
Arfield
Wood
Walters
Marney previously
Wells - signed injured.

We’ve been relatively lucky over the past few years I’d say but very unlucky this season.

With the list of the players in the post above it shows we have coped well. We had a great start then the injuries began. They coincided with a really tough run of fixtures. We did ok during that time and to still be in 7th was pretty astonishing when we didn't win for 11 games or so.

So all in all the blessing may have been missing certain players against the top sides rather than those on our level.

Blessings like these always come with hindsight, it doesn't mean it's good news, just that it has lead to potentially a good situation.

Nobody knows what good news looks like until afterwards and so currently dues to our 'bad' news of injuries, it has lead to opportunities to develop the squad to the point where two quality players per position is almost possible for next season, bear in mind Europe beckons.

Yes, had we not had our injuries we may have finished top 4 but had a terrible season after, now we seem to be in a very strong position moving forward.

ElectroClaret wrote:Not exactly a blessing, but as we stand (can't do owt about the past) we have two world class players coming back next term, in Defour and Brady, which surely will give the whole squad/club a huge boost. Plus more signings, no doubt.

So I get what the OP means, in a way.

Stretching it a bit putting Brady in the World Class bracket (although granted his game's come on leaps and bounds since he got injured).

Not a blessing but a series of opportunities for understudies to come in to the side, settle in and help the momentum continue.
Dyche's response to the injury crisis has also highlighted his genius even further.

ElectroClaret wrote:Not exactly a blessing, but as we stand (can't do owt about the past) we have two world class players coming back next term, in Defour and Brady, which surely will give the whole squad/club a huge boost. Plus more signings, no doubt.

So I get what the OP means, in a way.

World class Brady? Err no! And even Defour who oozes quality can’t get a regular slot in his national side so let’s keep some perspective!

Brady and Defour are most definitely not world class, the injuries have provided opportunities for squad players to show how they can cope in the prem. SD now has a better idea of what he needs next season. So in a way the OP is correct. We have qualified for the Europa League and I don't think we would have done much better than this with the full squad.

You're saying the more injuries the better? Not sure about that.

ElectroClaret wrote:Two world class players coming back next term, in Defour and Brady.

I'm with Electro.

ontario claret wrote:You're saying the more injuries the better? Not sure about that.

Really?

ontario claret wrote:You're saying the more injuries the better? Not sure about that.

I didn't say that, but the fact is that on this occasion it has had a positive side.
The sale of Austin formed the Ings Vokes partnership
The sale of shackell and injury to Duff formed the Keane Mee partnership, the sale of Keane gave Tarky his chance. I am not saying we should sell our best players, but sometimes it has a positive effect

Not a blessing in disguise, but possibly a reminder that some rotation is necessary to keep the whole squad up to speed.
This will become more important if we are in the Europa league.

Are you saying if we would have had zero injuries we would not know that Barnes is now an excellent Premier League striker, Taylor a more than adequate left-back, Long at centre-half can do a job, Westwood can step up to the plate and we would not have signed Lennon? If that is it then you make a fair point.

Imagine though if Brady and Defour had NOT got injured!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We`d be in the Champions League next season!!!!!! I`m not sure we would have had that mid-season `slump` and Hendrick wouldn`t have been our `No.10`.

Insert winking emojis where applicable

p.s. COMPLETELY forgot about Pope replacing the injured Heaton...shows how FANTASTIC Pope has been!!!

Claret82 wrote:The injuries we have sustained this year could be a wonderful blessing as it now feels like we have nearly two full capable sides to put out which will be invaluable in Europe.

I agree, though I would love us to have had less injuries....Pope has taken his chance and we now know we have at least 2 of the best keepers, Westwood has certainly taken his chance, Gudmunsen has had more game time (without Arfield and Brady) and has been able to switch to the left (more natural imo)...Long has stepped in and done better than most of us had dared hope.

But I'd still like to see a fully fit Defour and Brady for next season